Global Golf Post, April 24, 2017

globalgolfpost com APRIL 24 2017 Read more from The Posts writers globalgolfpost com now THE TAKE STEVE EUBANKS E MAIL STEVE Making it into this Hall or that doesnt concern Kerr She has put away things she cannot control Her interests extend far beyond golf now Cristie Kerr celebrates after winning the Lotte Championship Hall Talk Doesnt Matter To Kerr Best bet Shes already in one Hall She should be in another When Cristie Kerr came roaring back in the final round of the Lotte Championship two Sundays ago overcoming a three shot deficit to win by three the 39 year old likely secured a locker in the World Golf Hall of Fame If she hung up the clubs tomorrow Kerr would have 19 LPGA Tour victories including two major championships in a 21 year career The Hall in St Augustine Fla is replete with players envious of those numbers As for the LPGA Hall of Fame which is based on a points system so stringent that it only has 25 members and five of them are dead Kerr takes a philosophical approach Im just six points away from the LPGA Hall which is the toughest Hall of Fame in the world to get into she said But by the same token I never want to get greedy I thought years ago that 20 wins was going to be a good number Now Im only one win away from that Obviously Ill take as many as I can get but Ill continue to feel humbled and blessed by each of them If that sounds like a different Kerr from the player who has yelled at her golf ball for two decades or the one who once upon a time berated a cameraman for moving a couple of feet some 20 yards away youre right The Kerr who won in Hawaii is still feisty fierce and frighteningly competitive as evidenced by the steely eyed Dirty Harry gaze she flashed more than once on Sunday in Oahu But shes also a compassionate wife and mother a worldly woman in the prime of her life too young to be called mature but wise enough to be well beyond the petulance of youth When I came out on tour at 18 I was the No 1 ranked amateur and Id won all these events so I thought I was going to be a world beater Kerr said from her home last week It was a rude awakening when I got out on tour not just from a lifestyle perspective with all the travel but with how good the golf was I lost my card my first year 1997 and got it back through Q School she said It also took me a while to win her first victory came in 2002 which was one of the best lessons I could have learned Sometimes what you think is a sure thing isnt things youre convinced are going to work out dont Im a better person and a better player for having lived through that experience Kerr transformed herself She lost weight got herself in great physical condition and has had only four winless seasons in the past 15 years She also won multiple times in 2004 2005 2006 2010 and 2015 Throw in the 2007 U S Womens Open and 2010 LPGA Championship and its a jaw dropping career Yet she would need to win six more times or four if a couple of them were majors which count double to make it into the LPGA Hall of Fame Ive told people we need to change the criteria or were going to have to rename the thing the Dead Ladies Society Betsy King one of its members told me at the ANA Inspiration earlier this spring Making it into this Hall or that doesnt concern Kerr She has put away things she cannot control Her interests extend far beyond golf now Conversations about politics world affairs commercial real estate economic trends the military and medical technologies are never dull Kerr keeps up her end no matter what the topic Shes also become a darned good vintner Kerr Cellars puts out awardwinning Napa and Sonoma wines Its not cheap As the owner said Im making very high end fine wine Maybe someday well do something for the Costco market but what were doing now is my personality Maybe Im a snob but Im making wine that I like to drink every day Internally shes known as the CTO chief tasting officer but she also coordinates tastings and wine dinners including a recent one at the Olympic Club in San Francisco that included eight other high end vintners from Napa Kerr passed her level one sommelier class in the offseason Becoming a certified somm will be difficult for me because I dont work in a restaurant she said The service aspect of it Im going to have to practice my ass off for that It was a joke but only a little one Shes still direct and tough which can come across as abrasive But shes also one of the most fascinating people in the game a woman more fans should get to know no matter how many Halls of Fame she eventually enters Ive been blessed by God to do what I love and have an amazing family and great business she said Im not like I was when I was a teenager where I was brash and overconfident Its humbling every aspect of it Im blessed Truly blessed l

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